


Haunted Corn Maze

by OptimisticBeth



Series: Holiday Collection [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Halloween, Haunted House, One Shot, Professionally Scary, Rey is in college
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 11:24:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16474631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OptimisticBeth/pseuds/OptimisticBeth
Summary: Rey bonds with her work buddy, Ben.





	Haunted Corn Maze

A young brunette clutched her elbows to herself, looking around the dark corn maze as if expecting something to jump out at her. Rey slipped her hand into the other girl’s, giving it a squeeze to reassure her.

The girl seemed to appreciate it.

Then she glanced at Rey, and Rey screamed in her face, mangled jaw dropping wide. The brunette screamed in terror, ripped her hand free of Rey’s, and ran further down the path.

The girl’s boyfriend laughed and meandered after. He’d watched Rey approach his girlfriend and hadn’t said anything, smirking through the whole thing.

Kind of a dick move, but the scare had been spectacular so she couldn’t hate him.

Rey _loved_ her job.

She looked up at a hill nearby and saw the creature at the top give her a thumbs up. She curtseyed her thanks, her white dress bright in the dark.

She’d been disappointed when she’d gotten a post away from her friends. They were all zombies, able to chat between victims, but the owners had seen Rey’s potential and had placed her on her own in a tattered white gown and long black wig. Her face was painted ghostly white, and she had blackout contacts in.

She liked to vary her routine a little bit, sometimes doing jump scares and sometimes trying to creep up behind people. Once, she’d followed a group halfway up to the pumpkin patch before she’d placed a hand on someone’s shoulder and managed to send the whole group screaming into Ben’s territory.

Ben, the monster at the top of the hill, wore a creepy pumpkin headpiece and was dressed in a tattered green bodysuit with long spindly fingers, a cross between evil scarecrow and carnivorous pumpkin creature. His thing was being able to stay so still that the visitors convinced themselves he was only a prop, their tension easing as nothing happened. _Then_ he would jump scare them.

The screams were always impressive.

He could see her from his perch, and she could see him, though the cornstalks kept most people from spotting him before reaching the hill.

Even though she and Ben weren’t within speaking distance, they’d worked out ways to communicate, mostly hand gestures, and it hadn’t taken long for him to start telling her, “Good job tonight,” once everyone was dressed down and heading home.

Her friends teased her about it, but Rey just laughed and elbowed them and protested that nothing was going on.

And it wasn’t.

They were work friends.

Not even that — work _acquaintances_. Maybe _friendly_ work acquaintances, but still just acquaintances. Enough to say hi, but not enough for a long conversation.

Or so Rey thought until Finn invited Ben to join them for drinks after work one Saturday and she found herself lost in conversation with him for the better part of the night. They started out talking about their favorite scares, and then the tone mellowed and they talked about what they were studying and what their roommates were like. Rey found out that Ben shared an apartment with a guy he knew from high school and _hated_.

“Everything I do is wrong. I leave a towel on the shower rod to dry and I’m a slob, I don’t wash my dishes right away and I’m lazy, I play music when he’s home and I’m inconsiderate. I finally figured, fuck it. I can’t do anything right, so I decided to stop trying. Give him some real shit to complain about.”

“See, I love living with Rose. She’s a little cluttered, but if one of us annoys the other we can talk about it and find a compromise.”

“Must be nice,” Ben said with a wistful smile.

“Maybe you could just talk to your roommate,” she suggested, but Ben was shaking his head.

“You don’t know Hux. Even if he gets things exactly how he wants them, he’s miserable, and he likes to _share_ the misery.” His expressive brows flicked. “Not that I’m blameless. If he’s been especially annoying, I’ll turn up my music when I know he’s trying to study.”

“That’s called passive aggression,” she informed him.

“Yeah,” he said, taking a sip of his beer. “I work out my aggression-aggression by scaring the shit out of strangers in a corn field.”

Rey laughed, and Ben smiled.

Around two, Finn draped his arms over Rey’s shoulders. “Babe, if you’re not getting laid tonight, our Uber is here.”

Rey flushed from the roots of her hair all the way down her chest. “I hate you when you’re drunk,” she muttered.

“You love me,” Finn replied, sleepily nuzzling her hair.

She patted his arms. “It’s the only reason I put up with you.” Rey cast an apologetic look at Ben. “Sorry. I should make sure these guys get home okay.”

His hair was flattened a bit from sweat and his costume (hers wasn’t much better after wearing her wig for so long), and she could see the tips of his ears turn red. “Yeah, of course,” he said, pushing his chair back and standing.

Rey stood, too. “I’ll see you,” she said softly, propping Finn up.

“I’ll be the one wearing the pumpkin,” he said lightly.

She could feel his eyes on her as she and her friends left.

* * *

“Everyone get home okay?” Ben asked when she saw him at work the next Friday.

It took Rey a moment to remember what he was talking about, and then she smiled. “Yeah. Thanks.”

He nodded, already suited up except for his headpiece. Rey had just finished getting her makeup done and was stuffing her hair under her wig cap. She would put the wig on right before they went outside — it was too hot indoors with all the people bustling around getting ready.

She noticed that Ben’s hair looked nice when it wasn’t costume-squashed.

And he filled out his bodysuit… quite well. Rey swallowed and jerked her eyes away from him, hoping she could pass her red cheeks off as the heat of the house.

Poe, Finn’s roommate and yet another lucky zombie, approached with a grin. “Your face is _so_ messed up,” he told Rey. “I love it.”

Rey smirked at him. “Aw, just like your regular face.”

Poe clutched a hand to his heart. “My face is _gorgeous_ and you _know_ it.”

Rey laughed, and when she glanced at Ben to share the humor, she found him looking at her with an odd expression. It was only there for a moment, and then he wiped it away and gave her a polite smile.

Her zombie people finished at the makeup station, and Rey got her wig on. Ben walked with them through the maze, and Rey left her friends at the zombie station with a wave, continuing on with Ben. He held his pumpkin head under one arm and tipped his face up to the dimming sky as they walked.

“What’s up?” she asked softly, sensing his pensive mood.

He dropped his eyes to the corn stalks with a sigh. “Nothing much.”

“Something’s bothering you,” she said, realizing with a pang how well she could read him, even though ninety percent of their time together was spent in costume and too far apart even to shout.

They reached their section, and he gave her a soft smile, his eyes gentling. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said.

Rey smiled, the motion tugging at the prosthetics on her jaw. “Me, too.”

“I mean here, in this section. I’m glad I got to know you.”

Rey softened. “I’m glad I got to know you, too.”

They stood there for a few seconds, smiling at each other, and then Rey reached for his pumpkin. They always did a final costume check of each other, and Rey helped make sure his pumpkin head wouldn’t fall off in the middle of a jump scare.

Ben bent so she could settle it on his shoulders, then he stepped back and did a full turn. “Anything out of place?”

“Looking good,” she replied, trying not to let her thoughts wander too far afield. “Me?” She turned slowly, letting him examine her costume.

“Creepy as fuck.”

Rey beamed up at him. “Perfect.” She patted his chest, leaving her palm there for a moment. “Now, go make people soil themselves.”

Ben’s hearty laughter as he headed up to his pumpkin patch made her grin.

* * *

The night before Halloween was madness, fog machines working overtime to bathe everyone's ankles in chilly mist. Rey could just make out the shift and flow of the fog rolling off Ben’s hill, and she hoped his costume was warmer than hers. He sat facing her, almost invisible among the props breaking up his outline. Once a group passed her spot, he had less than a minute until they reached him.

Rey’s scares so far had been mediocre, jump scare after jump scare, but she was determined to get _one_ good one in before the end of the night. So when a group of teenage boys came through, she waited until they’d walked past her, talking loudly about how lame the maze was, and gently, carefully, put her hand on the rearmost boy’s shoulder.

He jerked away and turned, startled. Rey loomed forward and screamed her banshee scream in his face.

He shrieked and punched her.

Rey’s hands flew to her nose as she stumbled back with a yelp. It had been a reflex punch and hadn’t had much power behind it, but he’d gotten a glancing blow and her eyes were watering. The boys freaked out at their friend, so they did not see, as Rey did, the creature swiftly rounding the corner behind them.

The speed and intensity of Ben’s fury made him more monster than man, and even Rey, who _knew_ the man under the mask, was scared for a moment.

Ben plowed through the boys and flung the one who’d punched her away from her and into the others. Hunching between Rey and the boys like a demon, Ben roared at the group. The boys ran, and Rey didn’t blame them.

She’d never heard Ben make that sound before. Usually, he played his part silently, or with a low snarl.

He turned to her and removed his headpiece and gloves, eyes wide as he reached carefully to her face to check her nose. Rey dropped her hands and let him gently press the sides.

“Doesn’t seem broken,” he said in a low voice, cupping her shoulder to turn her. “Let’s get you to first aid.”

“Thanks,” she said as they made their way down an unmarked path intended for staff use only.

Ben shrugged at her, his gloves and pumpkin tucked under one arm. He sent her an inscrutable glance. “We monsters have to look out for each other.”

First aid was inside the big farmhouse where everyone got ready, and Ben walked her all the way there before their boss Amilyn shooed him back to his post. He left with a few concerned looks back, and Rey waved goodbye.

“That boy has it bad for you,” Amilyn said as she gently prodded Rey’s sore nose.

Rey winced at the prodding and asked, “What?”

“Ben,” Amilyn said, sitting back and grabbing some rubbing alcohol to help remove Rey’s prosthetics. “He likes you.” In her boss tone, she added, “Did you get a good look at who did it?”

“Just a kid. He didn’t mean to,” Rey replied, wishing Amilyn would get back to the subject of Ben. “It was a fight-or-flight reflex. Bound to happen one of these days.”

“Yes, well,” Amilyn said grimly. “I’m sending you home for the night. Can’t have my people getting hurt.” They both knew how fear sometimes triggered violent reactions. All the “Don’t Touch The Actors” signs in the world couldn’t stop instinct. “And I’d still like to have a chat with him.”

“With who?” Rey asked, thinking about Ben again. Did he really like her? Or was Amilyn seeing things that weren’t there?

“The boy who hit you,” Amilyn said, but there was a twinkle in her eye that suggested she knew what Rey was preoccupied with. After removing the fake jaw and setting it aside, Amilyn gave Rey a packet of cleansing wipes. “I’ve known him for years, you know.”

“The boy who hit me?” Rey asked as she opened the packet and turned toward a mirror to remove her makeup, deliberately playing dumb.

Amilyn snorted. “Ben. I’m friends with his mother.”

Rey didn’t know what to say to this, so she concentrated on carefully wiping the makeup from her sore nose.

“I’ve never seen him interact with a girl the way he does with you.”

“We’re friends,” Rey explained simply, feeling as if she had to defend Ben since he wasn’t there to do it himself.

“Hmm,” Amilyn hummed, folding her arms and watching Rey avoid her eyes in the mirror. (Which was easy thanks to the black contacts.) Finally, the older woman put her hands on her thighs and stood. “Okay. If you want to be just friends with him, that’s up to you.” She patted Rey’s shoulder. “I’ll be out front helping with customers. Let me know when you head out.”

Rey thought about Ben as she got changed and grabbed her things. He was her work buddy. He’d helped her out when she got hit, something any decent human being would have done. It didn’t _mean_ anything.

Rey texted Rose that she was heading home early. She didn’t explain why. She didn’t want her friends to worry.

She checked out with Amilyn, who took a look at the reddish bruise forming on one side of Rey’s nose and frowned.

“It’s fine,” Rey assured her.

“Get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Will do.”

Rey drove herself back to the dorms and got ready for bed, enjoying having the room to herself for a while. She took a long hot shower, easing warmth back into her chilled body.

When Rey finally fell into bed, she found several worried texts from Rose asking if she was okay. Rey sighed. Amilyn must have told her. Or Ben. She responded with quick reassurances, and Rose said she’d be home soon.

Rey also had a text from a number she didn’t recognize. _Got your number from Finn. Hope you’re okay. Have a good night. -Ben_

Rey smiled and settled against her pillow to reply. _Wasn’t as bad as it looked_ , she typed back. _Going to bed now. Night. :)_ She saw the ellipses that meant he was typing, but then they disappeared. She waited for a few minutes, but they didn’t reappear, so she plugged her phone in to charge and curled up under her blankets.

* * *

Ben texted her again in the morning to ask if she'd be at work that night (yes) and then continued to text off and on through the day when she kept replying.

So when Rey drove herself and Rose to work that night, she immediately looked for Ben and was disappointed when she didn’t see him. She felt on edge, nervous about this being the last night of the corn maze.

When she did spot him, she was already in the makeup chair and had to hold still or risk offending the overworked makeup artist. She managed a small wave, and Ben walked over.

“How's the nose?” he asked, leaning against the makeup station before the artist shooed him off of it.

Rey gave him a thumbs up, eyes crinkling even though she couldn’t quite smile because of her prosthetics.

Her nose was still a bit swollen. Not enough to notice if you didn't see it in the mirror every day like she did, but a bit.

The makeup artist had been very gentle while covering it.

When Rey was finished, she went to wait in a corner for her friends to finish their zombie faces. They took much less time in makeup, not needing anything as intense as Rey’s, and she took the opportunity to put her wig cap on.

A familiar tall, broad-chested creature moved to lean against the wall beside her, and Rey looked up into Ben’s uncovered face.

He shifted awkwardly. “Do you want to head on out?”

She nodded, her heart picking up. She could see her friends anytime, but this would be her last chance to walk with Ben. Sadness wedged its way into her chest. “Sure.

They were among the corn when he echoed her maudlin thoughts. “Tonight’s the last night.”

She glanced up at him, biting the inside of her lip. “Yeah.”

He stopped walking and fidgeted with his headpiece. He tossed nervous glances at her. “Do you want to get together? Sometime? This week? To hang out?”

A small smile pulled at her lips. “Yeah. Sure.”

He smiled softly, glancing at her again before looking back at the creepy pumpkin in his hands. “Cool.”

They resumed walking, and Rey felt lighter.

“So,” Rey said before she could second-guess herself. “Is this, like, a date?”

Ben’s eyes went wide, and he swallowed, casting her a nervous glance. Was the low light playing tricks on her, or were his cheeks turning red? “Uh. If… you want it to be?”

Rey ducked her head to hide her smile, her own blush smothered by makeup. She nodded. “Yeah. I’d… I’d like that.”

His smile grew, tipping up further on one side. “Okay.” He looked happy.

Rey walked a little closer, so that their arms brushed, and he tossed her a pleased look, as if he couldn’t quite believe she’d said yes.

When they reached her spot, he stopped again. “So. Um.” He fidgeted, opening his mouth a few times as if trying to speak and then closing it. Rey waited, breathless at the way his eyes bore intently into hers. His chest expanded as he sucked in a deep breath. “I _really_ like you. A lot.”

Rey felt a little weak in the knees, something she’d encountered in romance novels but never thought was a real thing. Somehow, she managed to squeeze the words, “I like you, too,” out around the happiness crowding her throat.

He swallowed. “Maybe we could do something tonight. After work.”

She bit her lip, letting it go after half a second when she remembered the carefully applied paint. Nervous excitement flared in her chest. “I’d like that.”

He gazed silently down at her for a moment, and then one corner of his mouth quirked up and his eyes crinkled. “You make a really cute ghost. Though your normal face is cuter.”

Rey took the pumpkin head from his hands and put it on him, glancing up through her lashes as she fastened it. The look was supposed to be flirty but was probably ruined by her mangled jaw and black contacts.

She trailed her hands lightly down Ben’s chest when she finished, catching her breath at how close they were, him staring down at her as she tipped her head back to gaze up at him, unable to see his eyes. It was a romantic pose in spite of the fact that he was a terrifying pumpkin creature and she was a grotesque ghost, but she imagined that he didn’t mind any more than she did.

She stepped back reluctantly, hoping he could see her excitement past the makeup and prosthetics. “Final check?”

He turned, letting her inspect his costume, and she nodded, placing her hands on her hips as she took the opportunity to check him out. “Handsome.”

He snorted, the sound muffled by the pumpkin, and made a twirling motion with one creepily elongated finger.

Rey did a slow spin, and he removed his gloves for a moment to adjust her wig.

“There,” he said softly, his voice low and breathy. “Beautiful.”

Rey laughed and swatted his chest. “Go be scary. I’ll see you after.”

“Deal.” He walked backward for the first few steps as if he couldn’t quite take his eyes off of her.

“Deal,” she whispered to herself with a soft smile, watching him go.


End file.
